Saturday, April 4, 2009

Pregnancy Termination in Bangledesh

The link below references a mixed method article in which the researchers investigated pregnancy termination in Bangledesh. The subject matter is pretty interesting here, but I'm more concerned with you examining the methodology. Do the researcher's present the qualitative and quantitative pieces of the article equally. How does the qualitative piece enhance the quantitative information and vice versa. "Having another baby would be a life or death situation for her".

7 comments:

I found this article to be very interesting. Within this study, the researchers combined both quantitative and qualitative study information. I enjoyed reading the narratives included in the qualitative study. I understand the importance of conducting quantitative research, however to me, qualitative research is more in line with what we as social workers do every day. We gain in depth information regarding the individuals and families that we serve. I believe that I would enjoy conducting qualitative research more than quantitative research because you get to interview the participants and really get to know and understand their situations. The quotes from the women and men involved in the study in Bangladesh makes the study more personal and real to me. You get a better understanding about why they make the decisions that they do.

After reading this study, I definitely agree with Dr. Vickerstaff when she said that she had always been in favor of mixed methods in research. By conducting this study with a mixed methods approach, the researchers were able to get a better understanding of termination of pregnancies in Bangladesh. Had the researchers focused only on a quantitative approach, they still would have found good information regarding termination rates being higher in those couples that did not want anymore children, but they would have missed a very large piece of the picture. By conducting qualitative research by in depth interviews, the researchers were able to discover a deeper understanding of the issue as to why these couples justified the terminations. I think because qualitative method was also used that the women were more forthcoming with information. I wonder how different the conclusion of the study would have been had only one method been used.

Original post of Malinda S. I do not feel that the qualitative and quantitative pieces of data were presented equally. There were 3052 couples in the quantitative research and 19 couples from the qualitative research. The qualitative piece enhanced the quantitative piece by highlighting how much influence the man has on the number of children born into a family. The piece also looks at the life of the couples during different stages of their lives as opposed to one point in time. Time was taken to fit the interview language to the culture of the interviewee. While the quantitative research may have recorded how many pregnancies were terminated during a particular time, the qualitative research highlighted why and how the decision was made to terminate.

I personally feel that "mixed methods" approach to research is the best method. It encompasses all aspects of the research process. It is odd, because as I have been trying to complete the final assignment, it appears that my article uses the "mixed methods" approach to research. However, it does not contain any specific interviews or quotes from the population that was being studied as this particular article did so well. The interviews with the women brought out a level of human emotion that cannot be replicated with numbers and figures.

The quantitative data presented in this study was very useful. It provided the readers with the number and percentages of women whom were affected by the decision to terminate. However, it did not answer the question “What would make a woman choose an abortion that was unsafe and could result in death or other serious complications?” Combining qualitative and quantitative research methods offered a more holistic understanding regarding the reason married couples would choose to terminate their pregnancy even under harsh conditions.

I was wondering the same thing. I don’t know if the study would have impacted me as much if part of the information was missing. The numbers jump out at you but the interviews tugs on you. I feel that a large piece of the picture would have gone missing. It certainly helps to include a mixed method approach when trying to capture a holistic picture. I know sometimes that is not always feasible. However, it just appears to make the work so much stronger.

I agree with Kristi, qualitative research makes the study more vivid and reminds you that you are dealing with real people with real issues. I too think that I would enjoy qualitative research over quantitative, but I do see the importance of both.